Concept
Virality
Brand & Marketing
Digital CultureWhat does going viral mean in the Agency editorial?
Virality is the rapid spread of a piece of content from person to person across networks, far beyond the audience that first received it. Issue.2 treats going viral as a goal no formula can guarantee, and reaches it through consistent and authentic communication instead of chasing trends.
In short
Issue.2 says that to go viral is to break the matrix and wake up in a tsunami of success, and asks whether it is miraculously impossible or strategically plausible. For the author there is no formula to publish something knowing in advance that the algorithm will skyrocket its reach, because algorithms adapt to the interests and behavior of users and advertisers and to cultural and social contexts. Studying trends can raise the chance of virality, but the edition asks whether a brand wants to surf a trend or lead it, and how far it would let go of its values for numbers. Its answer is to forget the numbers and communicate consistently and authentically: one person is a whole universe, and knocking on their doors until they act leads to adoption and, last, to going viral.
Key facts
- Is there a formula to go viral, according to Issue.2?
- No. Algorithms are an unpredictable, ever-growing intelligence that adapts to users, advertisers and cultural and social contexts, so no one can know in advance that a post will skyrocket its reach.
- What risk does the edition see in chasing virality through trends?
- Adapting content and portraying the brand in questionable ways just to get numbers, letting go of the values and culture the brand is building, which should be the pillars of its success.
- How does a brand go viral, in the edition?
- By focusing on the action of communicating, consistently and authentically, and insistently knocking on people's doors until they act: then the product or service is adopted, and you go viral.
What is virality?
In digital communication, content goes viral when it is shared so widely and so quickly that its reach grows through the audience itself, like a contagion, rather than through paid distribution. The image comes from the way a virus spreads. On social networks it depends both on how algorithms push content to users and on people choosing to share it, which makes it hard to predict: the same format can explode once and go unnoticed the next time.
How does Issue.2 approach going viral?
Section 2.1 starts from the obsession with numbers that social networks create and asks whether going viral is miraculously impossible or strategically plausible. The author rejects any formula and questions content made trendy with video effects, trendy music and maybe some cats: the real choice is between surfing a trend and leading it. The edition asks the reader to flip the switch, forget the numbers and communicate consistently and authentically, because one person is a whole universe. The section ends in three short lines: insist until people act, your product or service is adopted, and you go viral.
Source editions
Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.
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